


Casting Off the Past

by DrChickenSlinger



Category: Naruto
Genre: GaaLee, GaaLeeGaa Holiday Exchange, LeeGaa, M/M, post chuunin exams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:09:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21851977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrChickenSlinger/pseuds/DrChickenSlinger
Summary: Gaara and Lee get to spend time together after their fight with Kimimaro.GaaLeeGaa Holiday Exchange gift for nerdgladiatorwhispers!
Relationships: Gaara and Rock Lee, Gaara/Rock Lee
Comments: 11
Kudos: 128
Collections: GaaLee / LeeGaa Holiday Exchange





	Casting Off the Past

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nerdgladiatorwhispers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdgladiatorwhispers/gifts).



> Happy holidays nerdgladiatorwhispers! I hope you enjoy this fic! I know it isn't anything explicitly gaalee, since they're still bapies, but I still hope you enjoy :))
> 
> If you've ever read any of my fics and they've made you smile, consider donating to my ko-fi! I've recently decided to pursue freelance work, so things are a bit uncertain at the moment. Thanks!  
> https://ko-fi.com/drchickenslinger0777

“So I suppose you are one of the good guys now!” Lee said, looking over at Gaara and smiling. The bark on the tree he was resting against dug into his back, but the pain was dull compared to that in his arm and leg. 

Gaara looked over at him after a few seconds, as if it had taken a moment to understand him. 

“What?”

“Well, you are working with us instead of against us. You are one of the good guys!”

Lee looked at Gaara who continued to seem confused.

“I don’t know that I was ever one of the bad guys.”

Lee frowned. “But Konoha is good. Orochimaru is bad. Now you are working with us instead of him.”

Gaara looked away from Lee, leaning over his legs slightly to pick at the grass below him. His fingers shook, the only sign of the toll the battle against Kimimaro had taken on him.

“We were just doing what we thought we had to in order to help our village succeed. I was going along with my father’s orders. He…” Gaara stopped mid-explanation.

“He what?” Lee said, encouraging Gaara to continue.

Gaara paused. “It doesn’t matter. He’s dead now. With everything I’ve done, I don’t know that I’ll ever be a good guy.”

Lee pushed himself off the tree, scooting closer to where Gaara sat. He bristled visibly. 

“Gaara, I do not know what you have done, but I know that you can become better. You are still in the prime of your youth. You have the chance to change! And I can help you get there, should you wish for that.”

Lee watched as Gaara relaxed minutely. “Why would you do that?”

Lee flashed a brilliant smile at the so-called monster. It was obvious he was really just a boy who had been hurt. 

“Because that is what friends do!”

Lee might have imagined it, but it seemed that the corners of Gaara’s lips turned up ever so slightly. 

“If you say so, Lee.” He stood up, groaning slightly as the rest of his body began to tremble slightly. “We should probably head back. Are you going to be able to walk?”

“Of course I am!” Lee yelled, hopping up much too quickly. He swayed in place slightly, putting as much weight on his right side as he could. Gaara sighed, then tucked himself under Lee, supporting as much of his weight as he could.

“Oh, Gaara, this is not necessary. I assure you that I can make it back by myself!” Lee would have used his other hand to give a reassuring thumbs up, but his hand had gone numb. 

Gaara squeezed Lee’s side closer. “No you can’t.”

The bluntness in Gaara’s tone quickly prevented him from further arguing. They began to walk back toward Konoha, stumbling slightly. 

A lot of people were surprised to find that Lee had forgiven Gaara so easily. He really didn’t see what was to forgive in the first place. Gaara had been a worthy opponent, one that had shown him where he lacked in his training. Not only that, but Gaara was only doing what he had to in order to become a chuunin. Sure, there was that moment in the hospital where he tried to finish Lee off, but he knew that there were things Gaara suffered from that he wasn’t aware of. There was no point in holding that over his head. He just hoped that Gaara knew that he didn’t blame him for what happened.

“Say, Gaara?”

Gaara grunted in response. Lee looked over to see beads of sweat rolling down his darker-than-usual appearance. He wasn’t wearing his sand armor.

“Would you ever want to… hang out? I know that you will be returning to Suna as soon as you are healthy enough to, but I think it would be a lot of fun to spend more time together before you go!”

Gaara huffed a laugh in response. “Sure, Lee. Maybe they’ll even give us the same hospital room,” he said sarcastically. At least, he had intended for it to be sarcastic. But Lee hadn’t realized that.

That’s why less than a day later, Gaara found himself laying in a hospital bed that smelled of strong antiseptics, next to one holding Rock Lee. Lee laid in the bed, snoring loudly as the sun filtered in through the room’s window. He normally preferred to be awake before the sun was, but the fight had taken a bigger toll on his body than he had expected.

As Lee continued to snore, his neck prickled in a way that spoke of being stared at. The shinobi training ingrained into him forced him to open his eyes, though he couldn’t spring out of bed to fight off the intruder. Lady Tsunade had tied him down the night before, preventing anymore extensive injuries to his already busted left side. What he did find, was a grumpy looking Gaara on the bed next to him. He was staring at Lee with his legs crossed and his chin in his hand. Two trays of breakfast food sat on the mattress next to him.

“Good morning, Gaara!” Lee said around a yawn. “How are you feeling?”

Gaara ignored his question, to Lee’s slight annoyance. “Good to see that you didn’t die in your sleep.” Gaara picked up one of the trays, sliding it onto Lee’s lap. “Here, you need to eat this. Your body won’t heal if you don’t have the proper fuel.”

Lee laughed brightly. “You sound just like Gai-sensei!”

At the mention of his teacher, Gaara’s lip curled. He said nothing in response, only began to eat his own breakfast.

“Er, Gaara?”

“What.”

“I am still tied down. Do you think you could find one of the nurses to help me? Please?”

Gaara continued to eat, seemingly ignoring Lee’s question. Just as Lee was about to ask again, or even yell for help himself, a thread of sand made its way up Lee’s bed. It snuck into the knots holding him down, loosening them and allowing him to pull them off. 

“Thank you very much!” Lee said, sitting up slightly. He grabbed the tray with his right hand and began to eat. His left side felt heavy and weighed down from all of the plaster Tsunade had put him in. She had used more than was necessary, hoping to slow him down. So far it seemed to be working. Lee only saw it as another training opportunity.

The boys ate in silence, the sound of chewing filling the air between them. After a few minutes, Gaara set his now empty tray down on the floor, slipping back under his sheets and setting his head onto his pillow. Lee frowned slightly.

“Are you going back to sleep already?” Lee asked, his mouth full.

Gaara snorted, still facing away from Lee. “I don’t sleep. I’m just resting. I exhausted all of my chakra yesterday.”

Lee looked up, continuing to chew thoughtfully. “You do not sleep? How come?”

“If I sleep, the demon in my body takes over. Remember? That’s what happened before.”

Lee’s mouth opened in understanding. He suddenly felt guilty.

“I apologize for forgetting. You would think that it would be something I remembered, seeing as everyone sleeps.”

Gaara rolled over to face Lee, tucking the sheet up under his chin. “That or the fact that I turned into a giant raccoon demon and destroyed half of your village.”

Lee tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Yes, that would probably do it as well. But never mind. What would you like to do today?”

Gaara’s hairless brow furrowed. “What do you mean? We can’t do anything. I can hardly move without collapsing and you have more plaster on you than a house.”

“Maybe so, but we could still do something fun!” Lee said, craning his arm to set his now empty tray on the small table between their two beds. “We could tell each other jokes, or maybe even stories! We could probably also do some drawing if Tsunade would bring us some paper…”

“Drawing? Isn’t that something that kids do?”

“Gaara, we are technically still both kids! Besides, no one is too old for some good, old-fashioned coloring.”

Gaara seemed skeptical, but he didn’t argue any further. Lee smiled reassuringly at him.

“Now all we have to do is wait for Tsunade to come check on us. Then we can see if she has any supplies we can use!”

“I’ll just go get her,” Gaara replied, standing from his bed, swaying slightly. He grabbed onto the IV stand his arm was currently hooked to, then began walking away from their beds.

“Wait, Gaara! You should not bother Lady Tsunade. Besides, you need to be resting, too!”

“Lee, I think I’ll go crazy if I sit in here with nothing to do for much longer.” Gaara paused, looking back at Lee with a light smile on his face. “Maybe not ‘destroy the village’ crazy, but you know what I mean.”

Lee’s face burned at the smile Gaara gave him, but he ignored it. Too stunned to continue to argue, Lee watched as Gaara slowly made his way out of the room and down the hall. Only a few moments later, he returned, Tsunade half dragging half carrying him back by the arm.

“I swear, if you kids don’t hold still and allow yourselves to rest, you won’t even have the chance to. Because I’ll kill you first.”

“Good morning, Lady Tsunade!” Lee said cheerfully, ignoring her threat. 

She walked Gaara over to his bed, plopping him onto it. 

“I will plaster the shit out of you like I did to Lee if you don’t stay in bed. Got it?” She growled, leaning in close to Gaara. He stared up at her blankly, unphased by the threat.

“Do you have any markers?” Gaara asked plainly, interrupting Tsunade’s long-winded rant. 

She paused, glaring down at him. She glanced back to Lee briefly. “Markers?”

“Yes. And something to draw on. Lee and I will be much more inclined to stay in our rooms if we had the ability to draw. Otherwise, I think we’ll make a trip outside. If you’d prefer that.”

Even though Lee was facing away from Tsunade, he could practically see the deep, red shade her face was turning. Without another word, she stormed out of the room. Lee looked over to Gaara with a slight pout on his face.

“Shoot. I was so excited to draw.”

“Just wait,” Gaara responded, looking slightly smug. Only seconds later, Tsunade stormed back in with multiple markers clenched between her fingers.

“Here are some markers for the babies. I’m not giving you any paper, though, You have plenty of drawing space over there,” she said, dropping the markers onto Gaara and gesturing sharply with her chin at Lee. She then stomped back out of the room.

“What drawing space was she referring to?” Lee asked, his brows furrowed in confusion. 

“Probably your casts,” Gaara replied matter-of-factly. He grabbed the markers from where Tsunade had dropped them on the bed, then stood, walking over to Lee’s bed and climbing on. He uncapped a black one, then bent over Lee’s leg. The proximity made Lee tense up slightly for reasons he couldn’t explain.

“Is this okay?” Gaara asked, glancing up at Lee slightly. He handed a marker over to him.

Lee took the marker and coughed slightly. “Yes, of course!”

The boys were quiet again, the squeaky sound of markers on plaster filling the short distance between them. With all of the layers on Lee’s leg, he couldn’t even feel Gaara’s hands. But that was probably for the best. He focused on the doodle he had started on his left arm, a picture of the training weights that he wouldn’t be able to use for a long time. 

After a few more minutes of doodling, he got bored. He looked up to see what Gaara was doing, only to find him staring right back. Lee’s face burned again.

“What did you draw?” Lee asked, trying to hide his embarrassment. 

“You first.”

Lee laughed lightly. “I just drew a set of dumbbells that I like to use when I can train.” Lee sighed loudly. “I probably will not be able to use them for a while.”

Gaara slid up slightly to see Lee’s drawing. “Nice.”

“Thank you!” Lee responded brightly, smiling at him. “Now may I see your drawing?”

Gaara sighed lightly. “I just drew one of my potted cacti from back home.”

He slid back to reveal a rather detailed drawing of a round, seemingly fuzzy cactus. It sat in a black pot with a red heart in the middle. Gaara had even gone to the trouble of writing some random letters beneath it.

“What does that mean?” Lee asked, gesturing to said letters.

“Cephalocereus senilis,” Gaara responded. “It’s the scientific name for that plant. It’s also referred to as the ‘Old Man Cactus.’”

Lee laughed. “That is excellent! It definitely does look like an old man, now that I look at it more closely.”

Gaara smiled lightly. “You should see the one I have at home. It’s beard rivals the length of Orochimaru’s tongue.”

Lee laughed while Gaara smiled. He was a lot more of a normal boy than it seemed at first glance. 

“Can you draw some more of your cacti? Please?”

Gaara looked up at Lee, slightly surprised. “Of course.”

Gaara tucked his legs back underneath him and got to work. He continued to doodle on Lee’s leg, showing him each plant after he had completed it. Lee learned about the Mammillaria elongata and how it looks similar to a brain. Gaara taught him more about Aloe vera plants and how their gel was used to make the salves he put on his cut. Gaara even told him about Echinocactus grusonii, the golden barrel cactus that had become Gaara’s favorite. The more Gaara doodled, the more he opened up to Lee about his life in general.

Lee realized that Gaara had been doomed to his existence from before he had even been born. He learned that his mom had died while giving birth to him, plaguing him with a guilt that wasn’t even his to bear. Gaara told him more about his siblings, in relation to which plants reminded him of them, and how they were all working on growing closer to each other. They wanted to grow the strength of their family bonds. Gaara knew that if he could do that, he would be on the path to not only getting better, but also paying for some of his past mistakes. 

“Do you have any siblings?” Gaara asked after another long-winded explanation on plant care.

Lee looked up quickly from the spot Gaara had been drawing on. “Oh, no! I do not. It is just me!”

Gaara hummed in reply, then said, “Do you ever get lonely?”

Lee stopped to think about it. Was he lonely? 

“I do not think so,” he replied honestly. “Sometimes I wish that I did not have to be alone at night, but I suppose that will change someday. For now I have my team to keep my company during the day.”

“What would change?” Gaara asked curiously, continuing to draw yet another plant near Lee’s ankle. 

Lee’s face began to burn again. “Well, I hope to someday find my most precious person and spend the rest of my life with them! If I am unable to, I would like to perhaps adopt a child. That way I can pass on life’s important lessons to another youthful mind!”

Gaara paused his drawing to look at Lee. “I suppose that makes sense.” He continued to draw.

“Do you think that you will ever find a most precious person?” Lee asked timidly after a few seconds of silence.

Gaara switched to a new marker, but didn’t look up.

“I doubt it. I don’t know that I’m capable of loving in that way. Or if anyone would love me in that way.”

Lee was silent. He didn’t think someone could love him like that? His chest hurt. How could someone think that? It was one of the most important goals in Lee’s life to have a romantic partner… no matter what their past may have been.

“Well… for what it is worth, I think you are very capable of being loved. You are very strong and capable. And you are working on changing. And you are… handsome…”

Gaara’s eyes snapped up, but he reacted in no other way. A few more moments of silence passed. Lee began to grow uncomfortable.

“Gaara, I am sorry, I--”

“No, it’s fine. Thank you. For saying that.”

Lee nodded slightly, then cleared his throat.

“Gaara, will you… will you show me how to draw a cactus?”

“Sure.”

Gaara scooted closer up to where Lee was. He had wanted to ask something else, but reasoned that it was better left for another day. Perhaps when they were both older and less injured. For now, Lee would just enjoy Gaara’s company.


End file.
